Tuesday, December 04, 2012

A must read for all artists. It's focus is on musicians and downloading music...but the idea of global corporations looking to build the road to your "free" content is staggering."Letter to Emily"

It also addresses the various arguments in regards to the justification of stealing content.

This brings up a larger idea of how Social Networks create a forum to "share" work..essentially cutting out the cost of creating content and actually charging the content creator to showcase their work.

Friday, October 19, 2012

After much this and that I've finally got my online store up and running. Along with the store I've put my new sketchbook together. You can view all this quality goodness here: Karl's Art Land
Swing by say hi. Get some awesome stuff for X-Mas

Saturday, October 06, 2012

Here are two free sketches I did at the Las Vegas Comic Expo. I see a blank sketchbook and I sometimes I go nuts. I had a lot of fun with these. The Venom came after I picked up some Mc Farlane Spider-Mans and was channeling that type of vibe.

As much as I love people to buy my work I still feel the impulse to draw a little something for everyone I meet at conventions. I try and be the creator I would want to meet.

Tuesday, October 02, 2012

I had a fantastic time at the Las Vegas Comic Expo this past weekend. I was jam packed all weekend doing sketch covers, selling original art and prints. Here are a few examples of the art I created at the show.

I sold through the last of ECB issues from the current deluxe run.

The show was very well run and it was crowded both days of the con.

I was a bit surprised by how well the show went but I think it's telling me that I should do shows in places I have not visited in a long time or in this case ever.

Thanks to everyone who came by the table said Hi and supported my work. I definitely made some new friends.

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Here is a short story I wrote and drew based on the song Tonight We Are Young by FUN. I like listening to music while I draw and sometimes a particular lyric will inspire me to create a story. In this case the title of the song and the mood of it got my gears turning. Check it out below.

Friday, August 31, 2012

I get asked a lot about what people should use to do traditional inking. Traditionally inkers in comics use the Hunt 102. Some use the Gillott which works essentially like a tiny brush because the tip of the nib is so flexible. Here is a link to a good place to find almost any type of nib you are looking for. http://www.paperinkarts.com/calligraphy-pens-nibs.html

I've also heard good things the Deleter brand nibs from the company out of Japan. I have not used them but I've heard they are becoming very popular.

Pro Tip: Take an Ex Acto Knife and scrape the tip of the nib. This takes off some of the top layer of varnish and helps the nib hold the ink better.

Pro Tip: As far as ink goes. I use a combo of Pelican and Higgins as well as BlackStar ink. Finding a combo that gets you the correct flow off the pen while remaining black and not bleeding will take some experimentation. A lot of it has to do with how you store the ink and the level of humidity you are inking in.

Pro Tip: Obviously paper makes a big difference. I've seen a lot of artists get frustrated with inking because of bad paper. I prefer to use smooth Bristol board. The better the paper the less "pull" you'll get when the nib scrapes the paper. Better paper..better inks and less bleeding of the ink when it makes contact with the paper.

Pro Tip: Ink starting from the left hand corner down. This way you don't run the risk of smudging your inks while they are drying. Also also ways pull the nib down and away. Never try and ink up and down. It will split the nib and potentially splatter ink.

Pro Tip: When using a ruler tape pennies to the bottom of it so it's raised above the paper. This will stop ink from slipping out of the nib and under the ruler causing a mess.

Monday, July 02, 2012

Even though I’ve been going to Anime Expo for years I’m still blown away by the dedication the fans have to the lifestyle of being a modern Anime fan. The commitment to detail in terms of costume and character of each Cosplayer is staggering. They not only love the artform of Anime/Manga they live the artform. Anime/Manga is no longer a hobby, it’s a global lifestyle that transcends our typical ideas about branding and merchandising. The world of Anime/Manga isn’t owned by the companies that create the source material. Anime/Manga is owned by the fans.This idea of fan ownership is evolving very quickly in the digital age. The ability that the average fan has to connect with other fans and self promote themselves within the community via the internet has caused the Anime/Manga fandom to evolve into something unique and in it’s own way unprecedented in the history of fan to brand relationships. The fans at Anime Expo come to see each other more than to engage with the source material. It’s about celebrating their creativity as a group vs. waiting to be entertained. They don’t wait for the next big trend they entertain themselves by making the next big trend themselves. As this way of thinking evolves I believe being a full time fan will become a lifestyle unto itself. I can see a time in the not so distant future where fans will want their lifestyle to be recognized in the same way LGBT is becoming more accepted. Instead of moving towards a lifestyle that is determined to be “normal” or “acceptable”. Fans will want a “Custom Life”. Where their love for the Anime/Manga/Cosplay lifestyle enters more freely into their daily lives. They will want to express their “inner” selves by projecting out the version of themselves they want to be recognized as. The version of themselves that is accepted by the world, in essence becomes the “costume” while the cosplay becomes a truer expression of their inner personality and idea of themselves.The "Custom Life" -style will further extend into their daily lives effecting where they live and play. They will want to live with like minded people surrounded by physical things that reinforce their custom life. Imagine “Anime” themed apartments or restaurants. Already in San Francisco there is an Anime themed hotel. http://www.jdvhotels.com/tomo/As these lifestyles are embraced by the mainstream, employers will create workplaces that reflect these themes allowing for the employee to better transition between the world they have constructed and customized and the world of the workplace. Generating more loyalty to employers that understand their needs and lifestyle choices. The Anime/Manga style lends itself to this type of future because of the sheer amount of detail that goes into making the worlds behind the movies and TV shows. These worlds become “hyper real”, seeming more constructed, more thought out with a sense of purpose to them. As daily life becomes more stressful, uncertain, violent and dangerous there is a part of our minds that seeks out a happier more constructed way of living. A retreat to a world we make the rules for. A place where we are the hero, the princess, the sidekick or the funny animal. A place where dreams become reality and we step a bit closer to being what we really want to be.

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Monday, May 07, 2012

Now that Avengers has landed and Batman and Spider-Man are close behind in the summer movie schedule the question always gets asked: What does this mean for comics? Does it raise sales on the books? Is the success of these power house comic movies going to cause a flood of new fans to attack the comics stores in mass like a zombie invasion?

As I mentioned in my previous post about Free Comic Book Day many kids asked for Captain America and Iron Man sketches. The awareness created by the films is obvious and widespread. These films and the advertising around them generates interest but what happens when these new fans want more? Where do they get new product and how do they know which books to pick up?

In the past I've blogged about how important I think it is for the Big Two to push the comics business through the other product. You can read my thoughts about it here: What Should Marvel Do?

Packaging comics with every single toy. Converting the main line of comics into exact duplicates of what the mainstream fans see in the movies, trade paperback end caps in the toy aisle next to the toys based on the movies were just some of the ideas I talked about. If the big companies wanted to really make a larger business out comics there are ways. Sure it would take some money to make it happen but that's what it takes to grow and maintain a business. I'm sure after the ATM machine that is the The Avengers they could throw a little bit at the comic industry to help rebuild the perception of the industry in the minds of the mainstream consumer. In print or digital It's a revenue stream that still has a huge upside and unrealized long term potential. It just needs fresh and more aggressive marketing techniques.

In the post digital download era music industry we've seen artists try some interesting sales and marketing ideas based around their live performances. VIP packages that include CD's and concert swag sold along with your seat comes to mind. I don't understand why they don't do this with comic movies. How many people would pay $50 bucks to see The Avengers in 3D that comes with a t-shirt a graphic novel or collectable exclusive comic? Imagine a kid pack that comes with a comic book adaptation of the movie and an Iron Man toy. Even something as simple as everyone who sees the movie in 3D gets a coupon for a free comic they can redeem at a comic or book store. From a brand loyalty perspective it makes perfect sense. You are building an army of new comic fans that as we know are the consistent supporters of the brand as well as early adopters and taste makers. In the world where word of mouth and social media can make or break a project why not invest in a new generation of fans.

The issue for comics in the last 20 years has been availability and awareness. How do you get new readers when they don't know where to buy comics and which comics to read? Piggybacking them on the backs of Multimillion dollar movies is a good start. Putting the source material first is not only smart, it's good long term business.

Sunday, May 06, 2012

Good times at the Free Comic Book Day event at The Comic Bug. As a comic creator I try and do my best to support FCBD. It's a great way to reach new readers and it introduces the art form to countless kids and families. As comics have aged up in terms of content FCBD gets back to what I think should be the core audience of comics kids.

I drew over 50 free sketches. The biggest surprise was how many kids were asking for Captain America and Iron Man. I always dug Cap as a kid. He was not only the leader of the Avengers but also the heart and moral compass of the team. That being said I thought maybe his time had past as a character. With Batman and his gadgets and dark overtones, Iron Man with his armor how is a WWII character that runs around with a giant star on his chest going to attract and inspire a new generation of kids. Thanks to the Cap movie and The Avengers movie it has no doubt happened.

I also did tons of Batman and Joker sketches. I also did lots of video game characters. It all sort of blends together now. Kids talk about video games the way my friends and I used to talk about comics. They have a tone of passion about them and they know every single detail. The ideas generated from comics have blended so deeply into the mainstream it can hardly be called a fringe hobby anymore. I dare say it's right up their in terms of dominate storytelling platforms. If you want to make something cool, make it as a comic first.

I've also noticed how much interest kids have in making comics and creating comic art which is fantastic. I was asked tons of questions about how comics are created and published. I look forward to a whole new generation of kids with different voices and ideas keeping the art form strong in the future.

Thursday, May 03, 2012

For those of you that don’t want to read any spoilers for the Avengers then I’ll give you time to click away from this page...

I'll just put this picture of Scarrjo here so you don't get to reading....

...okay, done?

So
I got a chance to check out The Avengers movie tonight. Coming from
years of reading comics it’s interesting to see such a hardcore “comic
book” movie brought to the big screen. It’s very much the type of comic
you would have found at just about any point during the 70’s and 80’s
from Marvel. It obviously owes a lot to Hitch/Millar’s Ultimates which are those classic 70/80's comic ideas boiled down and gore’d up to seem new again. This
movie version perhaps would best be described at the ultimate
“Ultimates” version of the characters and situations. Throw in some
snappy Whedon dialogue and it proves to be the perfect blend of hardcore
comic fan service and mainstream fan bits. I admit to thinking that
Marvel Studios was maybe being overly ambitious with the idea of having
so many movies dovetailing into one mega movie. So many things could
have gone wrong. Instead they have managed to recreate the ideas, the
visuals and the emotions that comic fans have always loved about
mainstream comics and dare I say streamlined it and perhaps perfected
it. It’s the superhero movie fans have been asking for since fans
started asking for superhero movies to be made.

As
it stands Avengers is a great live action comic book. It doesn’t
redefine superheroes on screen as much as just sharpens them to such a
point that there isn’t really a need to go further with the concept.
That may sound like crazy talk but I came out thinking “well that’s it”
It didn’t feel like a beginning to me as much as it felt like the end of
the style of superheroes I grew up on. Those types of stories have
their “Ultimate” champion. A loud big brother that can defeat all comers
and suck up cash like the giant portal to another dimension that Loki
used the Cosmic Cube to open in the movie. Between Avengers, Spider-Man,
Batman, X-Men and to a certain extent Watchmen the super powered hero
of the 60’s,70’s, 80’s has told its story. Which begs the question:
What’s next?

I’m
not saying superheroes are dead. That’s been said time and time again
for the last 60 years and time and time again it’s never happened. I do
think the idea of a superhero as it has been sold from Marvel and DC
over the last 60 years has gone about as far as it can go. If you look
at the comic industry sales prove that the fans have no interest in
reading the comic versions of the characters. They have transcended the
comics and now exist in a perfect form somewhere else. They exist in 3d
with CGI and Robert Downey Jr. breathing life into them.

I
am actually excited about the future of the superhero. I want to see
what does it mean to be a superhero today. Not some nostalgia trip or
deconstructed Akira/Chronicle...power drives you nuts scenario. What
would make someone put on a costume and try and change the world?

The old superheroes have had their day. They live on in a better place.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Today I was fortunate to see the work of one my artistic heroes Syd Mead at his Progressions show at the Forest Lawn Museum. It was fantastic to see his work up close. As I've mentioned in past blogs experiencing art in person is different than looking at a series of jpegs. I found an even deeper respect for Mead by seeing the amount of detail that goes into every single aspect of his paintings while still maintaining fantastic compositions and of course innovative designs. It's fantastic when you think how great his work is on so many levels. The kicker for me was seeing some of Mead's earliest work. Not yet the master he would become but still clearly an amazing talent. The exhibit is free so if you are in the LA area make some time to get up there and have a look. I also recommend watching the documentary on Syd Mead. I ran into it a few years back and I find myself watching it at least once a year for inspiration and to get back to why I do art.

In other news. It saddens me deeply to hear another of my artistic heroes Jean Giraud aka Moebius has passed away. I don't know where to start in terms of how important an artist I think he was and is. His imagination and his ability to create worlds is unlike any other. He was a master on so many levels, painter, storyboard artist, cartoonist, concept artist, comic book artist. He did it all well and with originality. His contributions to Blade Runner, Alien, Metal Hurlant, Airtight Garage, Blueberry are legendary.

To say I will miss his work is a bit of an understatement. It makes me realize how important it is to celebrate the artists we love and respect when they are alive. We will always have their body of work but we will not have them forever.

Friday, March 09, 2012

Art and the online world seem to walk hand and hand. The web is content driven and where does content originate...well from artists...right?

I've has a theory that most people have one or two good ideas and that it takes at least ten ideas to find one great idea and of those great ideas there is a % that can become successful. The ability for an artist to tell which ideas work and don't is what makes up the foundation of the individual artistic voice. Art is all about micro decisions.

What if in the future art was created by committee? Imagine if art was crowd sourced. With the power of the web ideas and decisions could be solved or decided upon by massive groups of users. A world of Art Directors giving their feedback into a database that compiles and for lack of a better word "creates" the art.

If you look at the privacy agreements of online networks such as Amazon and Google. They want to control and own the content you share through their networks. Most people think they just want the ability to sell advertising to your aunt Sally in between her looking at photos of your sister's newborn.

That's only the tip of the iceberg.

Imagine you, as part of a group contributed to the creation of the next Lady Gaga? You helped shape the idea by giving your opinion which gave you the perception of ownership but no legal right to what had been created. The company owns the IP and the ability to exploit that IP in whatever way they want. By harnessing the collective creative decision making power of thousands perhaps millions of people they are reverse engineering success. They are cutting out collaboration with the artist and opting for an evolved direct relationship with the consumer.

Before everyone reading this thinks this will never happen and that I'm crazy from too much Red Bull and lack of sleep.

Thursday, March 01, 2012

Over the years I've gotten used to showing my work to other people. Sometimes it's to clients other times it's to art lovers at comic book conventions. With the rise of social networks I find myself presenting my work to a larger and larger audience. Which is in part why I create art in the first place. I want to share what I create with as many people as possible. As I've mentioned in past journals and blogs it's what I believe is the essential building block of art. Communication. When I say communication I mean it in the broadest terms. Communicating everything from an emotion to an idea, in narrative form or as pure design. It's all about getting what's in your head into the world and hopefully in some form into another person's head. I've always been suspect of the artist who has to explain the intent of their art. I understand giving the details or the mindset behind the creation but when you have to stand next to your art and give it deeper meaning I feel like somewhere along the line you as an artist didn't communicate the message through the art itself. Intent is appreciated but in the case of art I have to believe the execution is where the "art" and the "artist" really exist.

The Last In Line

I find it amusing that when I show my art this exchange is what follows....

I'm not being snarky here. I understand not every person who sees my art is willing to look at my entire catalog of work but at the same time it seems to me that whichever piece someone looks at last is the piece they believe is most representative of your work. I like to think I'm versatile as an artist so being pigeon holed into a certain style or artistic fetish always concerns me. Part of me wonders if the access the average person has to visuals through the Internet, TV, Games, Movies has made them passive just to protect themselves from the constant bombardment of visual stimulus. We are in someways turned off and separated from art just by the sheer amount of it we encounter. A person can't process it all so they have to break it down into it's simplest bite sized parts.

It seems we are in an era where people who enjoy art find it more interesting to interact with the artist than to interact with the art itself. When I say interact I mean they want a relationship with the creator of the art vs. a relationship with the art. In the past I believe viewers of art had a physical relationship to art whether it was by standing next to a painting or holding a printed version of it in your hands. Now I believe the online "gallery" has created a mosaic of a creators total art output and made that the basis for interaction. Giving way to an artistic "persona" that has taken the place of art as it was represented in the past as a physical object. It's the difference between seeing the Mona Lisa as a jpeg and standing in front of it. The underlying ideas behind the art are there, the composition, the technique, the drafting skills...but for lack of a better word the jpeg doesn't have the "presence" of the actual piece. Now imagine all the works of Da Vinci on a single page of a computer screen. The modern viewer interacts with an artist's creativity in total at a distance. The individual weight of the single piece loses it's impact and becomes part of the meta information behind the artist's persona. Data feeding into the artistic brand which is now the third person. You have the art, the artist and both together which forms the persona.

I was recently told that I bring up questions that I don't have answers for. Sometimes asking the question and the debate that follows is more important than asking a question just to give yourself a platform to give your opinion. In my mind that's not really asking a question it's just giving yourself an excuse to forward your agenda. In regards to what this idea of the modern artistic persona means in the digital age I really don't have an answer. In fact I don't know if there is any need for complete answers at all anymore. Maybe it's just about constantly revisiting ideas over time and continuing to learn and adjust your opinion as new information enters the equation. If anything we live in a time where information is liquid. It holds a shape for a moment and then just as quickly turns into something else. So perhaps our opinions should be free flowing as well.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Hi All,
If you live in the LA area and have a burning desire to shake my hand and perhaps watch me draw on something than I recommend hustling down to the world famous Comic Bug on Feb 01 from 11-8. All info is here: Signing Facebook page

Thursday, January 19, 2012

...and when you are ready to give me your hard earned money and prove that SOPA isn't neccessary then click here to get your very own digital copy of Me2 with all kinds of cool moving panels and the like. It will cost less than a cup of coffee at Starbucks and twice as entertaining.Buy the Me2 Digital Issue

Arizona
was very good but not over the top great for me. I did better than
expected so I was happy with the show and will definitely be back.

Side Note: this show is strange because the artist alley people out number
the retailers 2-1. I think people come to the show with x amount of
money to spend and they end up spending in artist alley because there
isn't as much traditional retail to spend it on.

Prints:
I had given up on creating prints a few years ago because I thought
they had fallen so out of fashion that it didn't seem worth my time
doing them. Boy was I wrong. Prints in general have been a boon for me
over the last couple of years. The time to cost to price of prints is
what makes them attractive. They are easy to make and very profitable. I
had a new break out print (Uzimami) which is brand new. The standards
keep selling. Pirate Queen, Zatanna. I feel like I did a better job of
displaying my prints this time out and it really helped sell them. I
clipped them to my banner and put them front and center on my table. I
took a page out of the kids at the Anime shows and went for broke in
displaying what I am selling.

Side Note: If you
take the time to go to one of these shows you might as well go all out. I
admit his was something I had to get my head around. I had done so many
conventions that they had lost their charm for me. I always like
meeting the people who follow my work but I wasn't taking the shows
seriously. Over the last two years I've improved and revised what I'm
taking to the shows to give the fans more of what they want and to make
available products I think will be most profitable. It's definitely
influenced my bottom line.

Original Art: Original art is a strange
beast. It's not a casual buy for a few reasons. It's usually pretty
expensive and it's an item someone has to really want. It's tough to
calculate or prepare for what is going to sell. For example, I've sold a
ton of sketches and prelims lately. It could be the fact that they are
lower priced but in most cases the buyer purchases multiple prelims at a
time. This tells me that they are more interested in collecting this
type of art vs. getting something for cheap.

At this show
there seemed to be a lot of interest in OG art from the series Deity. I
toured a lot in this area during that era so it's no wonder the fans
who know me are familiar and searching for that art. Unfortunately most
of the key pieces from Deity are gone. That being said I sold a couple
misc. pieces mostly pin up style art which helped push the show into the
very good status.

I was asked multiple times if I was planning to create an art
book or do another sketchbook. I'm listening and I've been putting one
together.

Comics: At least in this region I'm still
playing to fans of my older work. Which is great because the longer you
make comics the more you appreciate the fans and how much they support
what you do. Since I don't do a monthly comic that can be easily found
in a comic store it's no wonder that most fans are shocked that I have
new comics to sell. My impression is that they think ECB is a little
too off what they expect from me. ECB for the most part is an
experimental piece. I've really enjoyed doing it but I understand it's a
polarizing piece of work for my fan base. The ones that love it really
love it. The ones that don't keep asking for a new Deity series. Those
fans I push towards Me2. Digital comics are still not on the radar at
comic shows. It's still very much a paper and print market so talking
about digital comics to them is like talking about flying cars and jet
packs. Sure it sounds cool but isn't that something that's going to
happen in 10-20 years? Digital comics conceptually play better in the
internet space but that has not stopped me from promoting what I
honestly believe is on a daily basis becoming the present of comics.

Takeaways:

Get more organized with my original art. I sort of throw stuff into a portfolio and bring it with me.

More promo material.

Print a new sketch/art book.

Square for my I-Phone was huge. I ran credit cards sales for all three of us. Opens up the ceiling on the convention $.

Links

About Me

I got my start in the Comic Book industry working for Marvel, DC and
Image Comics. I started my own publishing company Hyperwerks where I
published comics for almost 8 years. I've spent the last few years in
the toy industry. I am now developing toy inventions and intellectual
properties for toy companies, Comic Books, TV, Movies and beyond.